Charlotte and the Colonel
by RoniAllan
Summary: This is not a variation of Pride and Prejudice; I consider it to be a side story as I imagine what might have happened when Charlotte met the Colonel when he visited Rosings with Darcy at Easter. Charlotte had come to realize that her marriage to Collins would not satisfy several of her needs so she looked elsewhere.
1. Chapter 1

Charlotte Lucas first saw the Reverend William Collins at Mr. Bingley's ball that he held at Netherfield Hall, the estate that he had leased in Hertfordshire. She had heard from her good friend Elizabeth Bennet that, as her father's cousin, he was the heir to their estate of Longbourn as it was entailed to the male line and Elizabeth had no brothers. She had said that he had written to her father to say that he was coming to visit them with several purposes in mind. First, he wanted to heal the breach that had existed between his late father and Mr. Bennet, or, as he said, to offer an olive branch to the Bennets. Next, he wanted to ease the transition of the Longbourn estate when Mr. Bennet died by looking for a wife from among the Bennet daughters. Finally, he was happily following the dictates of his esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Mr. Collins entered with the Bennet family and Charlotte saw that he was a tall, heavy-looking young man of some five-and-twenty. His air was grave and stately, and his manners were very formal. He danced the first set of two dances with Elizabeth, who did not look happy during this exercise. In fact, Elizabeth and her toes appeared to be in distress; they were dances of complete mortification to her. Mr. Collins was awkward and solemn, apologising instead of attending; often moving wrong without being aware of it. This exercise gave her all the shame and misery which a disagreeable partner for a couple of dances can give. The moment of her release from him was ecstasy for her. She hoped that he never asked her to dance again, but was afraid that this hope was in vain.

After that disagreeable set, Charlotte saw that Elizabeth's next dance was much more pleasurable as she danced with an officer with whom she appeared to have an enjoyable discussion. After this dance, Elizabeth came to Charlotte to talk. They were interrupted by Mr. Darcy, who came to ask Elizabeth for the next set. She appeared to be flustered, but she accepted his request as she could not think of a good reason to refuse. Just before Elizabeth left with him, Charlotte advised her not to discourage his attentions as he was a gentleman of great consequence. Charlotte, at twenty-seven, unmarried, and with no prospective suitors in sight, was well aware of the importance of ladies marrying whenever they could. Charlotte was aware that her small dowry and appearance that was far less than beautiful had been the main causes of her continuing single status. Charlotte despaired of ever receiving an offer of marriage.

During the supper break, Mr. Collins had been seated with Elizabeth, but Charlotte saw that he went to speak to Mr. Darcy even though they had not been introduced. Mr. Collins told Elizabeth that, as a member of the clergy, he was not required to follow the normal dictates of polite society. Mr. Darcy's reception of Collins was barely polite and everyone, except for Collins himself, saw that his approach to Mr. Darcy was not in the least welcome. After Mr. Collins returned to the Bennets, he spoke mainly to Elizabeth. Charlotte saw that her friend was not enjoying his conversation, so she went over to talk to Mr. Collins to distract him from her friend. Charlotte saw how grateful her friend was for this welcome distraction.

The next day, Charlotte went to visit Elizabeth with the intention of spending the day with her. When she arrived at Longbourn, she found the house in an uproar. Elizabeth's youngest sister, Lydia, informed her that Collins had made an offer to Elizabeth but that she had refused him outright. She next met Mrs. Bennet who tried to get her to convince Elizabeth to accept Mr. Collins as otherwise she might end up as an old maid that her family would have to support. These words struck Charlotte very cruelly as, being twenty-seven and unmarried, that was exactly the fate that she feared for herself.

Several of Elizabeth's sisters and her mother continued to talk about her rejection of Mr. Collins's offer. Charlotte was impressed by his civility even after receiving a rejection of his proposal, so she spent the rest of the day talking to him. Her civility to him served to relieve Elizabeth from his further attentions, at least for the remainder of the day. Charlotte was beginning to see an opportunity for herself if he was not welcomed by the Bennet sisters.

The next day the Bennets were engaged to dine with the Lucases, and again Charlotte spent the whole day listening to Mr. Collins. While she did not speak of her plans to Elizabeth, she had every intention of convincing Mr. Collins to transfer his affections from Elizabeth to herself. However, by the time the Bennets all went home that night, no request had been made for her hand, much to Charlotte's disappointment.

However, early the next morning, she saw him walking towards Lucas Lodge, so she went out to meet him before he entered so they could talk alone. "Good morning, Mr. Collins. It is so nice to see you this morning. How are you this morning?"

Of course, Mr. Collins's response that he was in fine fettle took much longer because of this natural verbosity and complete lack of sense. Eventually, he managed to tell her, with a great number of words, how she had attracted his affection and that he wanted nothing more than to have her as his wife. To this she readily agreed and they immediately went into the Lodge to secure the permission and blessing of Sir William and Lady Lucas. Her parents were thrilled that their daughter had finally received an offer from a respectable man, even if he were not the brightest person they had ever met. They had begun to fear that their oldest daughter would be a burden to them and to their son after they were gone.

Charlotte convinced herself that she knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that he was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be her husband. Without thinking highly either of men in general or matrimony in particular, marriage had always been her primary objective; it was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. This desired situation she had finally obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it. Her main hope was that she would be able to mold her husband to become a somewhat more sensible person. She did not love him and knew that he did not love her, but she did not expect that love was very important in any case. She wanted only her own establishment to run however she chose. To her, romance was something found only in novels or to the lucky few who found their perfect partners in life.

Mr. Collins left for his parish of Hunsford in Kent early the next morning. Charlotte now had to undertake the most difficult part of her scheme—she had to tell Elizabeth what she had done and to try to convince her that she was well aware of what she was facing. She went to Longbourn and managed to get Elizabeth alone. "Lizzy, I have to tell you something. Yesterday, Mr. Collins asked for my hand and I accepted him."

"Engaged! To Mr. Collins! Charlotte, how is that possible? You know what he is like."

"Lizzy, I was afraid that you would not understand. You must remember my situation. I am twenty-seven and will only be a burden on my family if I do not find a husband. I am not romantic, you know, I never was. I ask only for a comfortable home, and considering Mr. Collins's character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the married state. Lizzy, please understand. This will likely be my last and only chance to marry. I do know what he is like, but I hope that I will be able to change him enough to make my life tolerable. That is all that I want—a tolerable, and hopefully, a comfortable life. I do not expect, nor do I need, love. I am past that now." Lizzy, whose views on the importance of love to be the opposite of her friend, found this attitude completely unfathomable. To her, love was the most important consideration for finding happiness in life.

Charlotte left Elizabeth soon after, leaving her best friend in complete confusion. Elizabeth just could not understand how desperate Charlotte was about her future. Elizabeth and Jane had vowed to marry only with the deepest love, so she could not understand how her friend could marry without being in love or having the slightest hope of ever finding love with her husband. Elizabeth was sure that her friend would come to regret her hasty decision. In her view, everyone needed to love and be loved, just as much as everyone needed food and air to sustain themselves. In her mind, the acquisition of an establishment was not nearly as important as finding true love. At only twenty, she had plenty of time to find her perfect match.

Mr. Collins returned to Longbourn in just two weeks to spend another week with his intended. His reception by the Bennets was not warm at all, as they could see no benefit from his visit. Fortunately, he spent every day at Lucas Lodge.

He returned again in early January to marry Charlotte. Their wedding was well attended as the Lucases were among the most prominent members of the local society. The new couple left directly from the wedding breakfast held at Lucas Lodge to return to Hunsford so Collins could resume his priestly duties. While in the carriage, he mentioned, using many words, that his esteemed patronage had stressed that physical marital relations had only one purpose—procreation, and that they should be restricted to only once, or at most, twice per month to achieve that goal. Once a child was conceived, there was no reason for further relations until they wanted another child. Charlotte was beginning to realize that her husband would follow Lady Catherine's advice to the letter, no matter what the consequences might be. While she was pleased that she would not need to satisfy her husband very often, in another part of her mind she had hoped that she would eventually find some enjoyment in their relations. Now she was not sure if Lady Catherine's restrictions would ever allow her to find out.

Before they left Meryton, she convinced Elizabeth to come to visit her at Easter when her father was going to bring her younger sister Maria to stay with her for some weeks. Elizabeth was reluctant to agree because she had refused Collins's proposal, but she was very curious to see how Charlotte would settle into her new life. As well, she had always wanted to travel and had never been to Kent. She was also curious to meet Lady Catherine and her great estate of Rosings because of the excessive praise that Collins had made of this lady and her grand estate.

When the carriage carrying Collins and Charlotte approached the parsonage, he could not restrain himself but pointed out every aspect of the house, the gardens, and the meadows. Of course, he also praised nearly tree that was in sight in the Rosings woods. He became even more voluble when they entered the parsonage, commenting on every item of furniture and the arrangement of every room. He told Charlotte how Lady Catherine had condescended to tell him precisely how each item had to be arranged, thus warning his wife that she should not move any piece of furniture or ornamentation without his patroness's permission. Thus Charlotte had fair warning that Lady Catherine's word was law, and her own thoughts and desires came last, even in her own house.

In spite of this, Charlotte was pleased to be the mistress of her own establishment, even if her sphere of influence was limited. She met the staff and felt an immediate rapport with them as they seemed to be very pleased to have a mistress who appeared to be sensible. As soon as they were settled, she went through every room with the staff to familiarize herself with the house. She spent the next several days learning everything she could and planning how she would very slowly and carefully make changes that might not be noticed by Lady Catherine or her husband. She was pleased that she and her husband had separate bedrooms as she vowed that this was one room where her decisions would rule, regardless of Lady Catherine's dictates.


	2. Chapter 2

While Charlotte did not have much knowledge about what to expect from their wedding night, she anticipated there would be some initial pain, but perhaps some enjoyment as well. She was disappointed that there was neither. Collins came to her bed as she expected, but he barely touched her before he grunted, collapsed on her, and then left to return to his own bedroom. He did not return to her again for many days. She wondered if this was all that she could expect from him. She did not experience even the slightest amount of affection from him.

Soon after they arrived, they received an invitation for dinner at Rosings for the next night. Charlotte was both pleased and reluctant to receive this invitation so soon, as, while she was curious to meet this most esteemed patroness, she feared that she would be grilled about everything, and told, in minute detail, how to run her household. On their walk to dinner the next day, her husband kept telling her how she should act and respond to his patroness. Dinner was as bad as she expected as Lady Catherine asked very detailed and personal questions and told her precisely how she had to run her household. While Charlotte nodded respectfully at every comment and dictate, she paid no attention to much of what was said, even though she saw her husband paying rapt attention to his patroness.

During her first weeks at Hunsford, Charlotte made a number of decisions about how their life would proceed. She decided that she mainly wanted to be left alone to run her household as she saw fit. This meant that her husband had to be occupied in other matters, so she questioned him about his priestly duties to his parish and gently encouraged him to expand these responsibilities. She emphasized the importance of visiting every parishioner regularly to get to know them and to offer comfort in any of their troubles that they might experience. She subtly encouraged him to write and rewrite his sermons until they conveyed the exact message that he wanted. She suggested that he continue to visit Rosings almost every day, knowing that this would occupy several hours of his time away from the parsonage. Finally, she recommended that the garden should be completely his responsibility, knowing that would occupy several more of his hours every day. With these plans, she expected that they would have very little time together and that she would have several hours every day that she could spend as she liked. She decided that she would take up walking whenever the weather permitted. She hoped that the open air would help clear her mind so she could think of more enjoyable thoughts.

Charlotte's main disappointments were deep inside her. She had expected that marriage would bring some physical comfort from her husband, but she now knew that this hope would likely never be met. She had also hoped that she would eventually have children, but she feared that her husband's fumbling attempts at marital congress were just not right. She felt that something important was missing in his performance, that he did not know how to do it properly. From the little she had heard from her friends, especially those who were married, there should be more to the act than what he was doing. He still barely touched her and it was over. She wished that she had someone that she could talk to, but she had no one who might know how it should be done. This was such a personal topic that she had no idea how to find out what the act should entail. She thought about asking her mother, but she did not expect that they would be together in the foreseeable future and this was not something she would put down on paper.

Thus Charlotte spent the rest of the month of January and all of February getting settled. She so looked forward to the visit of her father, his sister Maria, and Elizabeth that was scheduled for the first week in March. At least then she would be able to enjoy some intelligent conversation, if not from her younger sister, then from Elizabeth. However, as Elizabeth was an unmarried maiden, she knew that she could not ask her the questions that were plaguing her.

Their visitors arrived when expected and Charlotte was overjoyed to have people she could talk to intelligently. Her sister Maria was too young to appreciate her concerns, and, in any case, she, along with their father, was completely overawed whenever they visited Rosings to say anything sensible. Only Elizabeth gave her much comfort, even though she could not talk to her about her deepest concerns. Sir William Lucas did not stay long, but left the young ladies with Charlotte for the remainder of their visit.

Elizabeth and Charlotte had heard that Mr. Darcy was expected to visit his aunt and her daughter Anne. They understood that Darcy and Anne were somehow betrothed, but they were not sure how formal this arrangement was. The ladies were curious to see them together as neither had been impressed by Anne, who was pale, sickly-looking, and never had anything to say. In truth, Elizabeth wondered what Anne was really like as her mother answered every question that was addressed to her. Elizabeth was not allowed to find out what she was like as she was never alone with her. Elizabeth smiled to herself, thinking how this unimpressive figure would suit a gentleman who was so proud and haughty as she had found Darcy when he had been at Netherfield. She could not tell if Anne had any spark of life in her.

Darcy did come when he was expected, and he came with another cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, who was the younger son of the Earl of Matlock, Lady Catherine's brother. The morning after their arrival, Collins went to Rosings to pay his respects to them, and the ladies were very surprised when the two cousins came back to the parsonage with Collins. None of the ladies could understand why they came for this visit. While Darcy was still his usual reserved self who did not contribute to their conversation in any meaningful way, the Colonel proved to be very personable and chatted comfortably with all three ladies. She wondered how these cousins could be so different—one was all affability and the other was all aloofness. They did not stay long but returned to Rosings after promising to visit them again.

Elizabeth's impression of Darcy was the same as she had developed in Meryton. She had no idea why he came to the parsonage as he said very little and did not appear to enjoy his visit. He did enquire after her family, but only after some time and in no detail that might indicate that he was actually interested in her answers. The Colonel, on the other hand, had appeared to enjoy their visit greatly. He was especially attentive to Elizabeth, but he complimented Charlotte on her house and gardens and actually took interest in her responses. Charlotte blushed at his attention as it had been a very long time since she had the opportunity to speak to such a charming gentleman. She did not find the Colonel handsome, but he was a complete gentleman and was very masculine in a way that appealed to her in some primal way. Even though she knew she must not even think about such things, she wondered what it would be like to be with him in an amorous embrace. He was the complete opposite of her husband, who was so oblivious to everyone other than his patroness that he evoked no similar feelings in his wife. Charlotte found that she was hoping that she might be able to spend more time with the Colonel while he was here. She blushed to herself when she wondered how she could arrange for them to meet somewhere alone. She knew that this dream could never be, but at least she would be able to hold an intelligent conversation with him.

Elizabeth, as was her habit, walked in the Rosings woods whenever she could. While Charlotte could not always accompany her, she also had thought that she would walk more frequently than she had before. It was just the next day that Charlotte went out for a short stroll when she met the Colonel who was also walking in the woods.

"Good morning, Mrs. Collins, it is very nice to see you here. May I join you on your walk? Did you intend to go far?"

"Good morning to you as well, Colonel. I would be pleased to have you join me. I do not intend to walk far; I just wanted to get out for some fresh air as it is such a beautiful morning." She was surprised that she imaginings of being alone with him had been fulfilled so soon with no special effort on her part. She almost hoped that he had been in the woods just to try to find her out walking.

The Colonel politely offered his arm to Charlotte and she accepted this invitation. The Colonel was very pleased to have an intelligent lady for company, and he engaged her in pleasant, if light, conversation. Charlotte was delighted to have someone to talk to, especially such a manly gentleman who was so easy to talk to. When he walked her back to the parsonage, he asked if she walked often. She certainly did not take this as an invitation, but she said that she hoped to come out about the same time every day when the weather was nice. She hoped that he would take this as a hint that she welcomed his company. They parted company in a very friendly manner.

The next day, Charlotte went out about the same time and saw that the Colonel was waiting for her. "Good morning, Mrs. Collins. I am so glad that you decided to walk again as I enjoy your company so much."

"And good morning to you, Colonel. I am pleased to see you again as I have had no one to talk to intelligently until Elizabeth arrived. I also enjoy your company." She willingly accepted his arm and walked just a bit closer to him than she had the day before. She was glad that he had waited for her in a place that was out of sight of the parsonage, even though their intentions were completely innocent. Charlotte found that the Colonel was so easy to talk to that their conversation flowed effortlessly. She asked him about his military life and he gave her a sanitized version of life in the army and the battles that he had been in. She then risked a personal question. "Colonel, I am surprised that you have never married as you are a very good person. You have a strong masculine appearance that many women find very appealing." She hoped that he would not be offended by her statement that suggested that she was the woman who found his masculinity very appealing. She had never before given such an overt message to any other man that was almost an invitation for further intimacies.

"As the second son, I will not inherit our estate, so my prospects are limited. I have been raised to live in relative luxury and I cannot even consider not being able to continue in a similar decent lifestyle. That means that either I have to earn a substantial sum in reward money or I have to marry someone with money. While I do enjoy the army, I know that my career might be limited. If I am injured, that could end it. If we can get rid of Napoleon, then the army will not need as many officers as they do now and I will likely be demobilized. Of course, I would like to find a good woman, but my choices are limited. Having met you now, I know that I would like to meet a woman like you; someone who is easy to talk to, someone I can relate to. I have never before met a woman who appeals to me like you do." Richard would not help himself from talking to her in such a flirtatious manner; he was responding to her own words.

"Enough of my tale of woe. Please tell me more about your life. I understand that you only recently married Collins."

"Yes, just after Christmas. I waited and waited for someone to ask me, but I know that I do not offer much in the way of inducements. I know that my appearance is not the type that attracts gentlemen, and my dowry is small. Finally, I realized that I had to be practical. I did not want to be a encumbrance on my family for the rest of my life, so I settled for what I hope will be a comfortable life rather than an ideal situation. I want only my own establishment and a quiet life. I hope that this is what I have found. I hope that some time in the future, Mr. Collins will learn how to make me happy." This was as close as Charlotte dared suggest that she was not satisfied with her physical relations with her husband.  
"Mrs. Collins, if I might speak plainly, will you really have control of your establishment? I know my aunt—she likes to meddle in everyone's lives. From what I have seen, your husband listens to her very closely. Will he allow you to make your own decisions, or will he expect you to follow her dictates?" Richard did not dare pursue the line of thought that Charlotte had hinted at.

"I know what you are saying. Mr. Collins certainly pays more attention to her than to me, but I hope that I will slowly ease my way into running our house the way I want. It may take some time, but I expect that eventually I will be able to accomplish this. I know that I cannot put my husband in a difficult position where he has to decide which of us to listen to; I will have to be patient."

Their conversation changed to lighter topics and they did not delve into such personal areas again that day. However, the next day the Colonel was again waiting for her, and, after talking about trivial subjects, he reverted back to more delicate areas. "Please tell me something, Mrs. Collins. Whenever I think about finding a wife, I find myself very conflicted. I know that I need to find someone with a good dowry, but I also want to be able to love my wife and to be loved by her. Do you happen to have any insights into this problem? How will I find someone suitable?"

"Colonel, I sympathize with your question. I believe that the desire to love and to be loved is a very basic need that everyone shares. However, I also believe that after enough time, people will come to realize that there are other priorities that may be more important than love. There are situations when love must be pushed aside for practical considerations. People may have to settle for something less than what they really need in a partner in life even if they know they will miss something very fundamental to their happiness."

The Colonel looked at her closely and noticed that she had a melancholy expression in her eyes. He realized that she had sacrificed her need for love to stop being a burden on her family. He immediately felt sorry for her and could not help but hold her a bit closer. She did not pull away from him, but pulled herself closer to him. They continued their walk with a feeling of mutual understanding.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the next several days, they continued to walk together whenever the weather was favourable. The topics of their discussion ranged widely, but several times did touch on love and the innate need for love. They knew that the Colonel would be leaving Kent with Darcy in just another couple of days. Charlotte was desperate to learn more about marital relations, and thought very deeply about whether she could talk to him about such a delicate topic. She decided that she trusted him enough to make the attempt. The fact that they were in a distant part of the woods helped her as she knew they would not be interrupted by anyone.

She was holding him closely and whispered up to him, "Richard, may I ask you about something that should never be mentioned by people who are not married to each other? Please. I have no one else that I can ask, and I assume that you have some experience in the area, at least more than I do. Perhaps if we can talk about this in general terms?"

"Charlotte, you are making me nervous. I will admit that I may have an idea about what you want to ask, but you know that this is something that men and women just cannot discuss. I will admit that I have some experience with women, so I will try to help you if it is not too embarrassing. It may help if you can you ask your questions in fairly general terms."

"I will try. Say a man and a woman marry without love or even any expectation of love, is it possible that their physical relations would be satisfying to the woman?"

Richard knew exactly what she was implying. "In general terms, I believe that it is much easier for a man to be satisfied than a woman. While I am not admitting anything, from what I understand, a man must work to help the woman or she will feel nothing at all. I believe that if a man cares for the woman, he will try to help her. If he does not care for her at all, or if he is completely ignorant of what should be done, then she will not be happy."

"That is what I thought. Thank you for telling me this. If I can ask another even more embarrassing question?" Charlotte turned very red, which Richard noticed. He realized that what she would say next was the most important part of her questions. "During the physical act, will the woman's person be invaded?" Now she broke down and sobbed. "Please excuse me. I should not ask about this."

Richard stopped walking, turned to her, and wrapped his arms about her, holding her close to him. "Charlotte, my dear Charlotte. I am so sorry for you. I understand what you are saying. I assume that your husband is completely inept at this and is satisfied when he barely touches you?" She nodded against him. "That is not the marital act at all. You will never feel any enjoyment with that. You cannot ever expect to fall with child if that is all there is. The act of love can be so wonderful when the man and the woman love each other and he is patient. I wish I could show you, but, of course, we cannot even think about it."

Charlotte reached her arm up, pulled his head down, and kissed him. At first, he did not return the kiss, but he quickly let himself go and returned her kiss. He could feel her pressing against him, and he was responding. "Please, Richard, please. Love me. Show me. Please."

"Charlotte, we should not, even though I want to so much"

She did not reply but kissed him again, her very first real kisses. She could feel that he was responding, so she decided to take charge. "Take off your coat and put it on the ground." He did not argue and did what she said. She pulled him down on top of her. "Please, Richard. Please love me."

When they finally got up, she straightened out her clothes and helped him put his coat back on. She brushed his coat as best she could and they returned to the parsonage without saying much to each other. Their feelings were too conflicted to be able to express them in words. While they both knew that what they did was wrong, it was so satisfying to both of them that they could not help but sigh when he left her at the parsonage. Her parting words were, "Thank you, Richard, thank you. I will never forget this."

When the Colonel went back into Rosings, he went up to his room to change his clothes. Jones, his loyal batman, helped him to change, and then Richard went down to find his Aunt. Jones looked at the clothes that he had been wearing and saw that the back of the coat was dirty and the inside was messy. When he looked at the breeches, he saw that the knees were also very dirty. Jones muttered to himself, 'Colonel, from what I see, you have been up to something quite improper. I have no idea who you were with or how I am going to clean these, but I know my duty. I will do my best and not ask questions.'

The next day, Charlotte did not go out for a walk as was her normal routine. She felt so conflicted for what she had done that she did not dare meet Richard again so soon, as she knew that she would ask him, even beg him, to repeat their act that was so wrong, but, oh! So wonderful! She felt that she could only hold the memory of their coming together deep in her heart, to take it out and savour it whenever she wanted. She knew that the next time that another opportunity to be alone with Richard occurred, she would not hesitate to repeat her indiscretion with him.

Richard did walk in the Rosings woods that next day, looking for her. However, he encountered only Elizabeth, so he asked if he could join her. It was during this walk that Richard mentioned Darcy's boast of the very good service he had undertaken on behalf of a good friend when he saved him from the inconvenience of a most imprudent marriage. While Richard did not realize that it was her own sister who was involved, Elizabeth knew immediately. This interference with her dearest sister's happiness made her furious with Darcy and was one of the primary reasons for her cruel rejection of his offer of marriage when it was made later that same evening.

Richard knew nothing of the history of Darcy and Elizabeth, or his cousin's inept courting of her that she had not recognized in the slightest. Richard only knew that Darcy had acted very strangely the whole time they were at Rosings and that he had never even once attempted to engage such a remarkable lady in any meaningful conversation. Even while Richard was so strongly attracted to Mrs. Collins because of the melancholy he detected in her and the ecstasy he had experienced with her, he relished conversing with Elizabeth because of the liveliness of her mind. He had never before met such a lady, and he could not fathom why his cousin was not similarly attracted to her. While the two cousins were often together, Richard did not realize how often Darcy had sought out Elizabeth in her walks in the Rosings woods. He was too immersed in his relationship with Charlotte to think about his cousin.

Richard and Darcy missed Elizabeth at Rosings when the Hunsford party arrived that evening for the final time. She had pleaded a headache and stayed away. He did notice that Darcy also disappeared from Rosings and did not reappear that night. Of course, Richard was too conflicted in his own thoughts to worry about Darcy and Elizabeth. Every time he looked at Charlotte, his thoughts turned to their encounter in the woods. He saw that she was looking at him with a wistfulness in her eyes.

The next day, they both went to the parsonage to make their farewells. Darcy did not stay long, perhaps because Elizabeth was not there, but Richard spent several hours chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Collins and Maria, waiting for Elizabeth to return from her walk. Richard found this visit very difficult. While he wanted nothing more than to take Charlotte in his arms to show her how he felt about her, he was forced to put up with the inanities from her husband and to treat her as if nothing at all had happened between them. While he managed to maintain his attention to the conversation, he was not his usual talkative self. He had never before met a woman for whom that he felt so deeply, but knew that they had no possible future. While he felt a very strong desire to be with her again, he knew that this dream was highly unlikely.

Finally he left to return to Rosings, where he found Darcy in a foul mood, much worse than normal. Darcy refused to talk about why he was so upset, so it was left solely to Richard to talk to their aunt and cousin. When they left the next morning, Darcy was still troubled and refused to talk about what had bothered him so much. Their trip to London was made in almost complete silence, and Richard was glad when he was dropped off at his parents' house.

Richard was very pleased to return to his official duties the next day, where he could try not to think about the two items that were foremost in his mind: the possible reason for Darcy's foul mood and the wonderful lady he had 'befriended' in Kent. He assumed that Darcy would eventually tell him what had happened, so he virtually dismissed that concern. However, he could not stop thinking about Charlotte. He admitted to himself that she had touched his heart as no woman had before. He knew that it was not just lust that he felt; he realized that this was a woman whom he could love, and may even be half in love with her already.

While he had enjoyed trysts with women before, never had a lady begged him to show her what she was missing in her marriage. He knew that, at the slightest provocation, he would gladly return to Kent to run Collins through so he could claim his widow as his own wife. Something about her sad situation touched him at his deepest core. He felt like a knight of old, rescuing a damsel in distress, except that this damsel was a married woman, and the dragon was her incompetent and foolish husband who had not the least interest in loving or satisfying his wonderful wife. He expected that Collins was not even aware that he was not satisfying her; he was so self-centered that no one, except perhaps for Lady Catherine, even existed in his thoughts. Richard knew that he could not forget Charlotte, nor could he stay away from her. Somehow he would have to find a way to be close to her, even if they did not repeat their tryst.

The Colonel was pleased to learn that his duties would continue at the army's London headquarters and that he would not be given a regiment to lead to fight the French forces in Spain. Wellington was meeting with some success in Spain, and the army needed to find more replacements for his army, train them, and send them across the Channel. While Richard had never shirked even the slightest duty that he had been assigned, he felt that now he had a reason to stay alive and healthy.

Richard continued to live at his parents' townhouse, which suited him very well because of its luxury. He saw Darcy occasionally, and found that his mood was still not good, although he refused to talk about it, no matter how much Richard tried to pry it out of him. He was not able to obtain much leave as Wellington continued to ask for more and more reinforcements. The best news came in July when word came that Napoleon had taken his eastern army and invaded Russia. This move meant that they had only the French forces in Spain to worry about at the moment.

At the end of September, he was finally granted a short leave, which he used to travel to Kent, ostensibly to visit his aunt and cousin, who were both pleased to see him. "Richard," his aunt said, "this is an unexpected pleasure. To what do we owe the honour of your presence?"

Richard kissed them both on the cheek. "Why, Aunt, I missed your company and could not think of a better place to go on my leave. I enjoyed my last visit here so much that I could not stay away." Richard knew that the slightest compliment would be accepted by Lady Catherine without question. During dinner, he regaled them with stories of his efforts to find recruits for Wellington and to train them to get them ready for battle.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, when he saw that Collins was arriving to visit his aunt, Richard slipped out a side door and walked to the parsonage. On being invited in, he went into the drawing room and immediately saw from her size that Charlotte was expecting. He looked around and saw that no one was here. "Mrs. Collins," he had to remember to be formal, "good morning! How are you? I see that you are increasing. Congratulations! When it the baby due?"

"Good morning, Colonel! Yes, I believe I should deliver in January. I am greatly looking forward to having a family of my own. How have you been?"

Richard quickly calculated that the important date of conception must have been in early April, when he was here. He raised his eyebrows and mouthed the words, 'Is it mine?' while pointing to his chest. Charlotte blushed and nodded. He closed his eyes and breathed a huge sigh, while a broad smile lit up his face; he had always wanted to have his own family. He sat down heavily, still smiling. He had never felt this way before and he knew that his life had just changed. He sat as if he were stunned, unable to say a word.

Finally, he shook his head and smiled at Charlotte. "How is your health now? Are you still able to walk some as you used to?"

"Yes, I can and I do, whenever I can spare the time. Of course, now I do not walk very far; it is just too awkward for me in my present condition."

To make conversation, Richard said, "I have not heard anything about Miss Elizabeth Bennet since Darcy and I were here at Easter. Do you hear from her?"

"Yes, we correspond quite regularly. The last news was that she toured Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle in August and even went to Pemberley. They happened to meet Mr. Darcy and his sister there and seemed to get along quite well. But then, something happened at home and they had to cut their visit short to rush back. The last I heard was that her youngest sister married Mr. Wickham and they are now stationed with his new regiment in Newcastle." While Elizabeth had written her about their elopement, Charlotte did not want to mention this as she was not aware how intricately Richard had been involved in this event. In fact, he was the one who found a new posting for Wickham, as far from Hertfordshire as possible.

"So, where is Miss Elizabeth now?"

"I just had a letter from her and she is at home. The biggest news is that both Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy returned to Netherfield and called at Longbourn. She said that Mr. Bingley appeared to be just as enamoured with Jane as he had been before he left last year. I believe that she expects that they will be betrothed quite shortly."

"I am glad to hear that, although I always felt that Mr. Bingley seemed to be so young, at least the few times I met him. I hope he knows what he is doing. Is Miss Bennet like Miss Elizabeth?"

"Not really. She is very beautiful, but so nice. I never heard her say even the slightest unpleasant word about anyone. She will make a wonderful and caring wife, so I hope he does not change his mind about her. After he abandoned her last fall, I was not sure about him.

"Please tell me something. Lizzy has never spoken much about Mr. Darcy, but I always had the impression that he admired her. Has he spoken to you about her?"

Richard knew that Darcy's involvement with Wickham and Miss Lydia was spurred by his regard for Elizabeth, but he felt that he did not know all of the details. "Not really, but I believe that he is in love with her and will do anything for her. As Darcy has always been pursued by young ladies and their mothers for his income and position, he likely has no idea how to go about trying to win a lady's affection. I hope he succeeds with her as she would make him the perfect wife." Richard left soon after as he did not want to meet Collins.

As the next morning was nice, and as Collins had rushed off to Rosings on some crisis or other, Charlotte went out for a walk, hoping to meet Richard. He was there, waiting for her where he had been before. When she went up to him, he looked around and enveloped her in his arms. "Charlotte, I wanted to be able to do that for months. I missed you so much."

"Richard, not here. Come, we are too close to the parsonage. We have to get away from here." She took his arm and they walked to where they knew they would have more privacy. "Richard, I have missed you, too. I know that we should not talk about it, but I keep remembering our wonderful moment together, and how it has given me such a blessing."

"Are you quite sure the child is mine?"

"Oh, yes. Mr. Collins has never done what we did together; not even close. As soon as I suspected, I told him and he is sure that it is his. He has no idea about the act of love or how to do it properly; now I do! He followed Lady Catherine's instructions and has not come to me again. Just think: if it is a boy, your son will eventually inherit the Bennet estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire as he will legally be a Collins."

"Charlotte, there is nothing I would like to do more than to make love to you again, but that would be awkward now, and we have to be so careful. No one can ever suspect."

"I know. I will have to content myself with my wonderful memories. Every time I look at my child I will think of you."

"Charlotte, I do not know what I will do now. I was happy being an officer in the King's army, but now I have so much to live for. Before we go back, may I kiss you?" Charlotte did not answer but turned her face up to him. After a warm and tender kiss, made difficult because of her size, they went back to their separate places.

When Richard entered Rosings, Collins was just leaving, so he went in to his Aunt. She was fuming about something and was yelling, "How dare she! Her arts and allurements may have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family. This is likely just a moment of infatuation on his part. She must have drawn him in. This is not to be borne. He is to marry Anne, not some country nobody."

Richard was at a loss. "Aunt, please tell me what is wrong? What has happened?"

"Mr. Collins was here to tell me that he received a very alarming report from his in-laws in Hertfordshire. They said that the eldest Miss Bennet is now engaged to a Mr. Bingley and that they expect that the second oldest, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, will soon be engaged to Darcy! That is impossible as he will marry Anne as soon as I can convince him to do what he should have done years ago. After all the attention I paid her when she was here, she does this!"

"Aunt Catherine! Are you sure the report is true and not just a rumour or gossip? I saw no particular attraction between them when we were here at Easter."

"It must be true! Why would Mrs. Collins's family write to her to suggest it if there were not some basis for the rumour? I have to find out what that woman has done to trap Darcy. I will have to go see her myself to see if these reports are true."

"Aunt, please consider. If you go there to ask her, would people not take your visit as confirmation of its veracity?"

"I have to confront her in person. She may not know of his prior engagement to Anne. If she has the slightest modicum of gentle pretensions, she will realize that he cannot marry her." She turned to a footman. "Get my carriage ready!"

"Aunt, wait, you just cannot leave right now. At least wait a day to see if you receive any further information about this."

"All right, I will wait for a day or so, and then I am going there."

Richard left her to find Anne, who was in her room. "Anne, you must have heard what your mother is upset about? What are your thoughts on all this?"

"Richard, I know that my mother is convinced that Darcy will marry me, but she has never asked for my opinion. Darcy and I have spoken about her obsession and neither of us wants to marry the other. We know that we would not suit. He needs to find someone who is healthy enough to bear him children and will match his intelligence; someone like Miss Elizabeth Bennet. I liked her when I met her and believe they would make an excellent couple. Do you know if there is any basis for this rumour?"

"Quite frankly, I am not sure what to think. I do believe that Darcy is infatuated with her and will do anything to win her regard. Whether he is close to making her an offer, I just cannot say. I do not know how she feels about him as he has been so clumsy in his dealings with her. What about you, Anne? What do you want out of life?"

"Richard, I know now that I have to get away from Mother before she smothers me to death. I really want to know what it feels like to be a wife to a good man. However, I am well aware that my main attraction is that I will inherit Rosings. I am now willing to trade my interest in Rosings for a husband who will treat me well for as long as we have." She blushed and continued, "What about you? Would you like to have Rosings, knowing how you can get it?"

Anne's words astounded Richard; he had no idea that she was thinking about him in this way. His thoughts were very confused. He knew that he was just about ready to leave the army to settle down. He knew that he needed to find a wife with a good dowry, and here was his cousin with a fine estate. He knew that he really wanted to have Charlotte, but she was married. If he had Rosings, would he be too close to her, seeing her nearly every day with her clown of a husband? Would he be happy with Anne as his wife? Would she be able to fulfill her wifely duties? Would she be able to give him children? What if her health continued to deteriorate? Would his Aunt even consider him for Anne if Darcy remained unmarried?

"Anne, my dear, you have given me a lot to think about. I do appreciate your honesty and will think very carefully about our situation. I will be here for only another few days as I have only a short leave. I promise you that I will get back to you as soon as I have made a decision. I will try to come back by Christmas if I can get leave." He went away to think. While he had never been attracted to Anne in any physical way, when he considered her as a possible wife, he knew that she was not unattractive. His biggest concern was her health.


	5. Chapter 5

Lady Catherine did go to Hertfordshire as she had threatened, and did confront Elizabeth. Neither lady was satisfied with their meeting; in fact, Elizabeth was furious. Lady Catherine was most upset, so she went straight to London to confront Darcy about his intentions with Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Of course, her discussion with Darcy had the opposite effect of what she wanted. She ranted about Miss Elizabeth's stubbornness and her refusal to say that she would never become engaged to Darcy. He was delighted to hear this and he was soon on his way to Hertfordshire, where he and Elizabeth quickly resolved any remaining misunderstandings and were betrothed. The sisters decided on a joint wedding, which was to be held in early December.

When Collins heard about the dual ceremony that would be held in Meryton, he knew that he was in trouble as he was cousin to the Bennets and his esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine, was extremely upset with Miss Elizabeth. He knew that he should get away from Kent to permit her anger to simmer down, but Charlotte was too far along to travel. Being his usual bumbling, self-centered self, He said to her, "My dear, as the heir to Longbourn and cousin to the Bennets, I feel that it is my duty to attend their wedding. I will even offer my services to officiate at the ceremony. Imagine the honour! To be able to solemnize the marriage of Lady Catherine's nephew."

He was quiet for a moment as he contemplated this honour. "But you certainly cannot travel in your condition. Will you be all right on your own? I will not be away for long, only a week or so. I will write to Sir William to ask if I can stay there. I must begin to write an appropriate wedding sermon. I just hope that Lady Catherine will allow me to be absent from my parochial duties here."

Charlotte was torn. As much as she wanted to see her best friend married, she knew that she really should not travel so close to her due date. The roads were not smooth and carriage rides were not pleasant at the best of times. She also did not mind that her husband would be gone for some days. She thought that it was too bad that Richard could not be here at that time.

After Richard had returned to his duties in London, he thought long and hard about Anne's words. The more he thought about his situation, the more attractive her offer seemed. His main concerns were Anne's health and if he could tolerate being so close to Charlotte while she was married to Collins. A lesser concern was his aunt. He knew that there was no way that she could be allowed to live at Rosings with them. Anne had said that she wanted to get away from her, so he had to get Lady Catherine to leave. Fortunately, he knew that she owned a townhouse in London that had not been used in years. Another lesser concern was whether the army would allow him to sell his commission and retire. He expected that they would as they were receiving news that Napoleon's Grand Army was retreating in disarray from Moscow. He expected that this retreat would signal the beginning of the end for him, even though parts of his French army were still fighting vigorously in Spain.

While in London, he spoke to his parents about Anne, Rosings, and Lady Catherine. Of course, they were very pleased that he would likely be leaving the army as they had been well aware that, if he had been sent to Spain at the head of a regiment, there was a strong likelihood that he would have been in the thick of the fighting there. His father, the Earl, who was Lady Catherine's brother, said, "Richard, do not worry about Catherine. I will do whatever is necessary to convince her to agree to all of your terms. I am one of the executors of Lord de Bourgh's will and it says that all of his assets will become Anne's upon her marriage, as long as the executors agreed with the marriage. I will certainly assure you that I will agree with your marriage to Anne, so all of their assets would effectively belong to you. Catherine has also charged me with looking after the de Bourgh townhouse, and I will see that it is ready for her whenever she moves to town.

"Your mother and I are very glad to hear that you are finally thinking of leaving the army to settle down. The Rosings estate is a good one that should make an even better return will closer attention."

Richard discussed his situation with his general in London. As the general knew Richard's father, he tended to be sympathetic with all of Richard's requests. He agreed that Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Moscow likely signified the beginning of the end for the French, so he would allow him to sell his commission and retire from the army. Before Richard confirmed this, he said that he needed to go to Kent to make sure that his Aunt agreed to all of his demands. The general granted him leave to go to Kent in January.

Richard arrived at Rosings and soon found time to speak to Anne. "Anne, I have considered what you said. The more I thought of it, the more attractive your plans are as I have decided that I would like to retire from the army and marry. I like you very much as my cousin and I believe that we are well suited to be husband and wife. I promise you that I will do whatever I can to make you happy." He certainly did not mention that his love was already given to someone else.

"I will also insist that your mother leave Rosings, probably to go to live at the de Bourgh townhouse in London. I spoke to my father and learned that he is an executor of your father's will. As such, he knows the details in it and said that all of your family's assets will be yours upon your marriage, as long as the executors agree with your choice of husband. Therefore, your mother will have no choice but to do as we wish.

"So, Anne, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Richard, I will, with all my heart." She rose and he hugged her very closely, but not too tightly as he was still unsure of her health. "I would like a short engagement as I have waited so long, so as soon as everything is organized, we should marry. Now, are you ready to go see Mother?"

"Yes, as long as Collins is not here. I cannot stand him, but I guess we have no choice but to allow him to officiate at our ceremony. Once we are married, I will make sure he does not come here as often as he does now, unless you want him to?"

"Heavens, no! I agree that he is ridiculous. I cannot understand why Charlotte agreed to marry him. Surely she knew what he was like?"

"As I understand her situation, she was desperate to find a husband so she would not be a burden on her family if she remained unmarried. His happened to be the only offer she received. She certainly deserves better as she seems to be an intelligent woman."

They went down to find that Collins had been there but had left, so Lady Catherine was alone except for Anne's companion, Mrs. Jenkinson. Richard wanted to speak to his Aunt alone, so he said, "Mrs. Jenkinson, would you mind excusing us as we would like to speak to Lady Catherine?" The lady rose and left the room. "Aunt Catherine, you know that Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet in December. He is no longer available to marry Anne. I have finally decided to retire from the army and find a wife. I asked Anne to marry me and she accepted." He pulled Anne close to him.

His aunt just could not let go of her anger at Elizabeth. "I cannot understand why Darcy did not follow the desires of his mother and me to marry Anne. He is obviously a victim of her arts and allurements. A county nobody! The shades of Pemberley will be polluted forever!"

"Aunt, it is done. They are married. Will you give us your blessing? Anne is of age so we do not need your consent. Just think—Rosings will stay in the family and not pass to strangers as it would if Anne were to marry anyone else."

Even though she grumbled, she finally said, "If Darcy did not do his duty, I agree that I do want Rosings to stay in the family, so I guess you will do. Yes, I will give you my blessing."

Anne went to her and kissed her on her cheek. "Thank you, Mother. That means a lot to us."

Richard continued, "Aunt, I spoke to my Father and learned the details of your husband's will. If the executors agree with Anne's choice of husband, all of the de Bourgh assets will pass to her upon her marriage. Thus they will effectively pass to me. This is important as we will want to arrange our household just as we want. While we appreciate how you have run Rosings on your own for so many years, it will be completely up to us in the future. I have asked my Father to arrange for the opening of the de Bourgh townhouse for you if you decide to live there. If you want to live somewhere else, that will be fine. We will make sure that you receive an allowance that will be large enough for you to live anywhere you want. You will not be living here at Rosings."

"What? Anne cannot possibly live without my guidance. Of course, I will stay here to live with you. How can you possibly think otherwise?"

"No, Aunt, that is not how it will be. You will not be living with us. I strongly believe that the townhouse will be your best option, unless you decide on somewhere else. Our minds are made up on this. A new wife needs complete control of her household."

"How can you be so cruel? To throw me out of my home? Is that all the thanks I get for looking after Anne all of her life?"

"Aunt, our minds are made up. If necessary, I will ask my Father to remove you forcibly. You know that you do not want to make the Earl angry as he is your closest relative in town. Of course, you may take any of the Rosings staff that you want, including Mrs. Jenkinson and your maid, Dawson. You may want to make a trip to town to check out the townhouse to see if you will need any of the Rosings furniture. You may take anything that you want.

"Now we have to decide on the date for our wedding so I can go see Collins to have the banns read. We want to marry as soon as possible, but we need three Sundays for the banns to be read, so that we take us to the beginning of February. Anne, what do you think of Wednesday, February 3?"

"That sounds fine. The sooner the better for me. Mother, I agree that you will want to make a quick trip to town before then to check out the townhouse. I am sure that Uncle will put you up while you are there to get it ready. Richard, while you are setting up the banns with Reverend Collins, I will begin to write letters of invitation to our family members. When you get back, we can decide if I missed anyone and you can write invitations to any of your friends that you want to attend. We will have to put everyone up here, but we have lots of room."

Lady Catherine was shocked to hear her formerly meek daughter take charge without the slightest reference to her. As she also knew the terms of her husband's will, she knew she really had no say in any decisions about their de Bourgh assets. She knew that she would have to reconcile herself to the new realities that she was facing. She went to write to her brother to ask about staying there while the townhouse was made ready for her.


	6. Chapter 6

Richard went to the parsonage and consulted with Collins about having the banns read and reserving the church for their wedding. While he hated to have any dealings with the parson, his participation in the wedding was essential. He decided that he would strictly limit any future meetings with him to the absolute minimum. When he arrived at the parsonage, he went in and greeted Charlotte, who appeared to be huge and very ungainly. He could see that she had trouble even walking with her size. "Good morning, Mrs. Collins. I can see your due date must be very soon. Has the midwife any concerns at all?"

"Good morning to you, Colonel. No, she is satisfied that everything is progressing as it should and that it will be soon. I admit that carrying around this bulk is torture. I can barely walk." They shared smiles that conveyed a lot of secret information.

"I am here to see your husband. Anne and I are getting married and I need to have the banns read and to reserve the church for our ceremony." Charlotte had wondered why he had returned to Rosings, but knew there was nothing she could do or say about his upcoming marriage. Charlotte was conflicted about his news, but knew that they had no future together. She wondered, as had Richard, what would happen when he came to live so close to her. She secretly hoped that they would again find time to get together again and again. "After I have met with your husband, perhaps I might sit down and tell you of our plans. Some of them affect you."

"Please do. I will have tea ready."

Richard went into the study where Collins was writing. As briefly as he could, he told him what he needed, and Collins assured him that it would be done as he wanted. He then invited Collins to come out so he could hear what their plans were. When the three of them were seated, Richard said, "As you both now know, Miss de Bourgh and I are marrying on February 3, here in Hunsford. After our wedding, Lady Catherine will be moving to London, so my wife and I will be your new benefactors.

"I want to assure you that whatever financial arrangements that Lady Catherine had with you will remain unchanged. As you should expect, the two of us do not need to be consulted as frequently as Lady Catherine did. Collins, we will let you know the circumstances under which and when we need to be consulted. Collins, I want you to concentrate on the spiritual needs of all of your parishioners. Mrs. Collins, I have heard good reports of your work in the parish, and I want you to continue this. I am worried that with your new baby, your time available for doing this will be limited. I want you to have sufficient help here in your home so you will have time to continue your good work. Collins, I will increase your living so you can hire a good nurse for the baby and extra help for other duties. I realize that work such as laundry will increase greatly. There is no way that I ever want to be accused by anyone that I did not properly support my parson. Mrs. Collins, do you have several good women who might be suitable for these positions?" Richard hoped that he was not laying it on too thick, but he had absolutely no respect for Collins's intelligence. He only wanted that Charlotte have a relatively easy time with her new baby.

Before Collins could begin his effusive praise for these considerations, Richard raised his hand to forestall him. He looked at Charlotte for an answer. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I thought about this and have found several local women who will do very well. I was just waiting to decide if we should go ahead and hire them."

"Collins, you should hire them at once so they will be ready when the baby is born. On another topic, as your first son will be the eventual inheritor of the Bennet estate of Longbourn, I will make sure that he has the education that he will need to be a gentleman farmer. Now I need to return to Rosings as Miss Anne and I have a lot of planning to complete."

As Richard rose to take his leave, Collins nearly toppled over showing his gratitude for everything that Richard had said. Charlotte just smiled her thanks to him, knowing full well why he was doing what he had just promised.

Dinner at Rosings that night was different from what Richard normally suffered through. Lady Catherine was much more subdued than usual, as she appeared to be thinking of what she had to do. She did mention that she had written to her brother to ask if she could stay there for some days while she saw to the reopening of the de Bourgh townhouse, so Richard knew that she had accepted his dictates. Anne was also more lively and talkative, obviously excited about her future. Richard was fairly quiet, thinking about the great changes to his life that were coming. He was not worried about his resignation from the army as his general had known that it was coming and had told him that he would approve it. His main concerns were about how he would manage to be good to his wife while being able to see his true love.

That night, after his batman, Jones, helped him get ready for bed, he had a final brandy and got into bed, thinking. After a while, there was a tapping on his door, it opened, and Anne came in carrying a candle. She was wearing a robe. "Anne! What are you doing here? You should not be here."

"Richard, I am so excited. Finally, I will be out from under my Mother. I am so glad that you decided to accept me. I can hardly believe that she is actually going to leave us to live in London. I told her she should take Mrs. Jenkinson as her companion as I will not need her when I am married. I will have you." She set her candle on his table and took off her robe. Richard saw that she was wearing a very nice silk nightgown.

"Anne, what are you doing? You should go back to your room before someone sees you here."

Anne did not listen to him, but went to the bed, lifted the covers and crawled in beside him. "Richard, I just want you to hold me. I have never been held by anyone. You are going to be my husband very soon, so what does it matter?" She put her arms around him. Richard was so surprised at Anne's actions that he did not do anything. Later, he realized that he could have simply gotten out of bed, but he did not do it. He could feel Anne hugging him and felt his resolve was weakening quickly. He could not help himself, but he turned to her and put his arms around her. She kissed his neck, and then pulled his head down to kiss him properly. At first, Richard did not respond very enthusiastically, but then his control disappeared and he kissed her passionately.

"Please, Richard, please love me. Make me your wife. Show me what it is like. Please." It was not until later that he realized how similar these words were to those he had heard from Charlotte months before.

How could he resist such pleading? He could not; he could only try to be as gentle and slow as he could, much to the great satisfaction of Anne. He almost worried that her passionate responses might be heard outside his room, but he could not think about that at the moment; he was too immersed in his own ecstasy. After, he lay beside her, holding her in his arms, both in such bliss that they did not need to talk. Finally, he said, "Anne, I have to tell you that I really had thought that we would not consummate our marriage as I was so concerned about your health. I am glad that I was so wrong; you are a wonderful woman and I can see that we will enjoy each other so much."

"Richard, I know that my health is not the best, but I do not care. What we just had is exactly what I had always hoped for, but I was afraid that I would never experience it. Can you forgive me for coming to you? I just could not wait and would not trade what you gave me for anything, not even for a longer life. My only regret is that we waited so long. I do not know if what I felt is love or something else, but I do not care. It was wonderful."

Richard knew that he should send Anne back to her room, but she quickly fell asleep, as did he, still holding her in his arms.

Early the next morning, a maid went into Anne's room to start the fire. She went in very quietly so she would not wake Miss Anne. When she had the fire going brightly, she rose and was about to leave the room when she glanced at the bed, expecting to see Anne wrapped in the blankets as she usually was. She had to look twice when she realized that the bed was empty and had not been slept in. This had never happened before, so she went out to find Ellie, Anne's maid. She found her in the kitchen having breakfast with several other servants. She did not want to cause a general commotion, so she whispered to Ellie that she had to speak to her. They went out into the hall.

"Ellie, I just came from Miss Anne's room to start the fire. She is not in her bed and it has not been slept in. I thought that you should know. I next go to the Colonel's room to make up his fire, but I thought that you might know something."

Ellie had wondered why Miss Anne had insisted that she wear her finest silk nightgown last night. She knew that her mistress had become engaged to the Colonel and wondered if she might have gone to him. "I think we should get Jones before you go into the Colonel's room." She went back into the kitchen and asked Jones to come with her. When they were out in the hall, she told him what the chambermaid had said.

"Ellie, perhaps I should peek into the Colonel's room before anyone goes in. Come with me." The three of them went up and stopped in front of the Colonel's room. Jones put his finger to his lips and very quietly opened the door a crack. He looked in but could only see the Colonel's head. He opened the door wider and stepped in, tiptoeing up to the bed. He stopped and went back to the door. Stepping out, he softly closed the door, turned to the two young women, smiled and said, "There is another head in the bed with the Colonel. I had better wake him so she can go back to her room before anyone else notices. Can I trust you two not to say anything about this? Wait here."

Jones opened the door more noisily. He stepped in and saw the Colonel's head move. He said, "Ahem! Colonel, you may want to wake up." Jones then left the room and closed the door.

Richard woke when Jones entered. At first, he could not figure out why there was someone in his arms, but then everything came back to him. He tightened his arms around Anne and he could tell that she was now waking up as well. "Oh, Richard! Do you want to make love again?" She could feel him pressing against her.

"I would love to, but the sun is shining. We slept later than I intended. You should go back to your room before anyone finds you here."

Anne realized how light it was and got out of the bed, not realizing that she was naked. She saw Richard admiring her and quickly reached for her nightgown and robe, blushing furiously. When she had those garments on, she smiled at him, gave him a kiss, and went out. Seeing no one in the hall, she went to her room. Very soon after, Ellie came in. "I ordered a nice warm bath for you. I believe you might want to soak for a while." Anne again blushed bright red as she realized that Ellie knew exactly what she had done, but she appreciated the thought of soaking in a tub as she was a bit sore. Neither said anything further about this, but Anne noticed that Ellie smiled at her.

Meanwhile, Jones went into Richard's room, made up the fire, and helped his master dress for the day. When Richard left, the maid came in and Jones told her that the bed needed to be stripped and remade with clean linens. Neither commented on the bloodstains on the sheet; they both just smiled. Jones appreciated that Ellie was not upset at what her mistress had obviously done as this indicated that she might have an interesting attitude to sex. The Colonel had asked him if he would prefer to remain in the army or resign with him to keep being his valet. Jones found that his decision to remain with Richard was an easy one to make, so he asked that his resignation from the army be sent in with Richard's.


	7. Chapter 7

Several days later, the Earl received the letter from Lady Catherine asking that she stay with them while she had the townhouse readied for her occupancy. As the Earl had long been his sister's agent for looking after the de Bourgh townhouse, he had already sent the Matlock House butler over to confer with the housekeeper about what needed to be done to get it ready. The townhouse had not been occupied for several years, so only a skeleton staff was employed there. They spent several hours going through the house and mews deciding what additional staff and what maintenance and repairs were needed. The butler found that the house was generally in good shape but would need some painting and additional furniture. As neither of them knew Lady Catherine's taste very well, they hoped that she would come to town to make her preferences known.

The day following their first night together, Anne decided that she would not be able to handle her mother's questions or attention, so she had a breakfast tray sent up to her. As this was not unusual, Lady Catherine did not comment on it. Anne found that she was fatigued with her night's activities, so she spent most of the day resting in her room. Mrs. Jenkinson was with her all day and did not note any differences with her except that she did smile a lot, which she normally did not do at all.

After breaking his fast, Richard went out for a ride, ostensibly to become even more familiar with the estate that would soon be his, but his main motive was to drop in to the parsonage. After he had ridden out to several of the tenant farms to talk to the farmers, he rode back to the parsonage. When he knocked at the door, a housemaid answered and apologized for the state of the house as she said that the mistress had gone into labour. Now Richard was in a difficult position. He desperately wanted to be with Charlotte as she laboured with delivering his child, but he knew that he could not appear to be too interested or involved in this momentous event. He asked, "Is Mr. Collins available?" and was shown into the parson's office.

"Collins, I hear that your wife is in labour. Is the midwife with her? Is everything going normally? You certainly do not want anything to happen to your good wife."

"Colonel, thank you for your great condescension in asking about my wife. Yes, the midwife is with her and says that everything is proceeding as should be expected, but that it will be another few hours before anything happens. She said that there is nothing that I can do at all. She said that the role of the husband is to be patient."

"Let us know if there is anything else that you need. Did you hire the extra staff as we spoke?"

"Yes. Mrs. Collins immediately took action and the nurse is here already. An extra maid will be coming in just a day or two."  
"Good. As I said, I do not want your good wife's work on behalf of the parish to suffer. Be sure to let us know at Rosings when your child is delivered or if you need anything at all." With this instruction, Richard rode back to Rosings to find the housekeeper.

"Mrs. Collins is in labour. I told Collins to let us know if there is anything that we can do or if he needs anything. I would like you to go there to ask the staff what might be needed as I am sure that today their entire routine will be disrupted. Ask if they have enough baby things ready. Take or buy them anything that they need, anything at all, then let me know what you did. Thank you."

The housekeeper was surprised at the level of concern expressed by the Colonel, but she assumed only that it showed what kind of a master he would be. Everyone knew that he was to marry Miss Anne and become the next master, but word had not spread about Anne's amorous wanderings of the previous night. She was aware that Lady Catherine would be moving to town to her own establishment and that she would probably ask some of the staff to go with her. She hoped that the townhouse already had a competent housekeeper so she would not be asked to go. She was looking forward to having a new master who would not be as demanding or imperious as Lady Catherine.

Richard knew that he could not permit his excessive concern over Mrs. Collins to be obvious, so he went into the library so he could pace in private. He also hoped to be able to write a letter to Darcy to let him know of his recent decisions. He worried that, until he knew of the result of Charlotte's labour, he might not be capable of accomplishing anything useful today.

After pacing for some time, he decided that he had to find something to occupy himself, so he went to find Anne. She was still resting in her room, sitting with Mrs. Jenkinson. He went in and said, "Will you excuse us, Mrs. Jenkinson?" She immediately curtsied and went out. Richard closed the door behind her. He went to Anne and kissed her gently on her lips. He took her hand and said, "How are you today, my dear?"

"A little tired, but very happy. Oh, Richard! Last night was wonderful. I had no idea that it would be like that. Do all married couples find such happiness together?"

"In truth, I have no idea. That is not something that husbands talk about. I admit that I did not expect such incredible feelings from being with you. I am glad that it was as good for you as it was for me. I have never been with someone that I love before." Richard knew that he was perhaps stretching the truth about his feelings, but he thought that Anne deserved a statement like that. "How are you really feeling today? Are you tired, or perhaps a little sore?"

Anne blushed at this question. "I was a little sore this morning, but I soaked in the bath and I am fine now. I am a bit tired, although I slept very well after. That is likely as I went to sleep later than I usually do. Please tell me honestly, Richard, do you think badly of me for being so forward with you? I was really nervous that you might have sent me away. That is why I so quickly got into bed with you and held you. To tell you the truth, I was not sure what to expect. It was so much better than I ever expected. I know there are risks, but I do not care. It was worth it."

"Anne, you surprised me. I had no thoughts that you would ever do something like that. I said that I had wondered if I should even consummate our marriage because of the risks to your health, but if you are so happy, how can I not be? A question, though. Do you want to be with me every night, or wait until we are married?"

"Richard, I have waited so long that I want to make up for lost time, but is it possible? Is there a limit on how often we can make love?"

"Not that I know of. I believe that the only limiting factor is my ability to perform, but I expect that once or twice every night is not beyond hope. In fact, if I were not afraid of being interrupted, I would love to try again right now. We have to be careful though, we do not want gossip to spread about us."

"Once or twice a night! Oh, Richard! Perhaps you might come to me tonight?"

"I will, gladly. On another topic, I dropped in to the parsonage this morning on my ride and learned that Mrs. Collins is in labour, so we might expect some news from there today.

"I should go see my Aunt now to see how her plans are progressing. I believe that she has accepted our dictates and will go to town very soon to see about the townhouse. Perhaps you should rest for a while so you will be in good shape for tonight?" He gave her another light kiss and went down to find his aunt.

She was in the sitting room. "Richard, I have been thinking and really believe that I should stay with Anne after you are married. She will need me. She does not know how to run this establishment."

"No, Aunt. Definitely not! She will never learn if you are here taking care of things. Our minds are made up. We will live in Rosings but you will not. I assume that you will be going to town shortly to get the townhouse ready. Why not take Mrs. Jenkinson with you as your companion, and, of course, your lady's maid? You have some decisions to make about the house and only a few weeks to get them done. I am sure my parents will assist you in any way that they can. You need to think about staffing and which staff you might want from here. I do not mind hiring new people for Rosings. My main concern is that you are comfortable in town.

"Did you hear that Mrs. Collins is in labour today? I asked our housekeeper to go to the parsonage to see if there is anything they need. With luck, we should hear if she delivers today. I hope Collins is ready to be a father. I imagine that the first child is quite disruptive.

"Now I should go write to Darcy about what is happening here. Is there anything you would like to add to the letter? I could easily put your note in with mine." Richard went out to go write his cousin. At the same time, he wrote his father confirming his decisions and asking if he would see to the legalities of transferring the ownership of Rosings and the townhouse to Anne, and thus to him, on their marriage. He asked that the lawyers draw up a lease for the London townhouse to Lady Catherine for as long as she lived. He wanted everything made legal in case Anne did not survive long. He did not want to give his aunt any possible way for her to interfere with his ownership of Rosings.

Later that afternoon, just before dinner, Collins arrived and announced the birth of his son. He said that everything appeared to be fine with both mother and son and that the midwife was pleased with both of them. Upon hearing this, Richard sat with a strange look on his face. Anne went to him and asked, "Richard, what is it? You seem to be greatly affected by the announcement."

Richard had to think fast, "Anne, I was dreaming of our first child and what it would be like. Imagine having our own son. I cannot wait." He knew that he wanted nothing more than to rush to Charlotte's side and hold his son, but he could not even think about it.

That night, after the house was quiet, Richard went to Anne. Just before dawn, he went back to his own room and crawled into his own bed. He was not aware how early some of the staff began their work, but he was seen.

Over the following days, he went to Anne every night. The staff all became aware of what was going on, but no one mentioned anything to Lady Catherine. She received a reply from the Earl, so she left for town, taking the grandest carriage, grooms, outriders, and all. Richard told her that he would need this carriage at Rosings, but that she could take the second-largest one to town with her when she moved there permanently. He was very careful to make sure that she knew that he would have complete control of the estate as soon as he married.

With Lady Catherine gone, Richard became less circumspect with his relations with Anne. Several afternoons, while Anne was resting, Richard was nowhere to be found. He continued to ride out in the mornings to learn as much as he could about the estate. Some mornings, he and Anne rode out in her phaeton, making sure to stop at the parsonage so Anne could visit Charlotte and her baby. Richard did not go to see Charlotte, but contented himself with speaking to Collins. He worried that if he went to see either Charlotte or his son, he might make his feelings obvious.

Several days before their wedding, Lady Catherine returned to Rosings. Richard greeted her after she was settled back in. "Well, Aunt, how was your trip? Did you get the townhouse in the shape that you want?"

She was obviously in a better mood than when she had left. "There is a lot to be done to get it back the way I want it, but my brother and the housekeeper are arranging for some painting and maintenance. It should be ready in a few days."

"What about staffing? Have you decided who you would like to take from here?"

"Yes. I will need most of the indoor staff as they are used to my ways of doing things. I will deal with the housekeeper to see who wants to go with me. Then you can see about replacing them. There should be enough locals who would like to work here and she can train them the way you want them."

"I am not worried about that. Did you see many people when you were in town?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. The Earl and Countess hosted a dinner for me and invited a number of people we all know. I am looking forward to being back in town where I can see them again."

The most exciting event that occurred in the rest of January was the christening of baby Collins. Charlotte had been very clever and said to her husband, "William, I have been thinking of what we should call our son. As my father's name is William, the same as yours, of course we must include that name. However, we will have a new patron that we should keep on the best terms with. We should ask Mr. Fitzwilliam and Anne to be his godparents, but he would be very impressed if we called our son after him as well. What about Richard William Collins?"

"My dear, that is a wonderful suggestion. We certainly need to keep on the best terms with Colonel, I mean Mr. Fitzwilliam, so asking him to be the godfather and naming him Richard is a great idea. I was wondering how we could use this occasion to be of benefit to us, and that is perfect. I will ask him right away. I have already informed Mr. Bennet of his birth and the lawyers who look after the Longbourn estate, so they know the succession is assured."


	8. Chapter 8

Their wedding day finally came. Richard had invited all of their relatives, and they all accepted. Darcy and Elizabeth came with Georgiana and the ladies quickly went to the parsonage to visit Charlotte and her baby. Elizabeth got to hold him first, and she was very impressed. "What a beautiful boy! Charlotte, you are so lucky. Georgie, who do you think he looks like?"

"He has Charlotte's eyes, but he is a sturdy fellow. I am not sure yet who he looks like. May I hold him?"

Charlotte was worried, as she thought he looked liked Richard. She sighed in relief to herself when neither lady thought the same. They spent an enjoyable hour at the parsonage, and then went back to Rosings. The Earl, Countess, Richard's older brother with his wife, and his sister had arrived for Richard and Anne's wedding.

At dinner, when the ladies left the men, the men spoke of problems they had encountered running estates as they were all involved in this. Richard had a number of questions for them, and he expressed his hopes that he could make Rosings pay even more with his close attention and control.

Lady Catherine had led the ladies from the table, but Anne knew that this role would soon be hers. They went to the sitting room where the piano was immediately put into use. Elizabeth watched Anne carefully, as she had the previous Easter. She decided that Anne had the same unhealthy pallor, but she smiled a lot more. She wondered if a pregnancy would be advisable for her, and what Richard's thoughts were about that, but, of course, she could not ask him.

When the gentlemen joined the ladies, Darcy sat next to Elizabeth, and Richard sat next to Anne, which caused her to smile even more. Everyone had wondered if theirs was a love match, and the unspoken consensus was that it did appear to be so, at least on Anne's part. Richard's attitude was much more difficult to read, but he did not look displeased. His family all expected that the prospect of having Rosings was the major inducement for him. They could only hope that Anne's health would remain good enough for them to have a happy marriage.

The ladies went up quite early as they would be busy the next day as that was the day of the wedding. Anne and Richard had decided that they would not be together this last night, but she went to sleep smiling in any case, thinking of the joys to come. Elizabeth did not go to sleep right away as she was waiting for Darcy. She was also smiling, thinking of her own wedding just two months past.

The weather co-operated the next day as it began with bright sunshine. The Earl had agreed to give the bride away, and Darcy stood up with Richard, just as Richard had stood up with Darcy. While the guests waited, the ladies all took this opportunity to visit with Charlotte to admire her son, who was a good as gold as he slept through the whole ceremony. Collins took this opportunity to be as long-winded as he could, as he wanted to impress such illustrious guests. Naturally, he did not realize that his verbosity had the opposite effect.

Everyone went back to Rosings for the wedding breakfast, and then the Fitzwilliams and Darcys left to return to town. Lady Catherine's staff had packed all of her belongings and she left in a train of several carriages as she took a number of staff and the furniture that she wanted for her townhouse. While Richard allowed her to use the best carriage to transport her, Mrs. Jenkinson, and her lady's maid, it would return to Rosings the next day. The other staff rode in the second-best carriage, which was to stay in town.

Richard and Anne breathed huge sighs of relief when all the guests were gone. As she was quite tired, she said that she wanted to rest. "Should I come with you, my dear? Or do you really just want to rest?" Richard enquired.

"Richard, I think I should just rest. We will have the whole night to be together. I will join you for dinner." She went up to their new rooms, as their staff had moved all of their clothes and personal items to the suite that had been occupied by her mother. Of course, they would use the suite designed for the master and mistress. Richard found himself alone for the afternoon. He would have liked to go to visit Charlotte, but he knew that he did not dare. He wondered what the future would be like as he would be so close to the parsonage. He also wondered about Anne, as her health still appeared to be the same as it had been, questionable.

At the parsonage, Charlotte was also quite upset as a result of the wedding. She was glad that Richard would be so close to her, but was afraid that his new wife would keep him close to her. While she hoped that he married Anne to be close to her, she suspected that they would not be able to get together very often, if at all.

In March, Anne told Richard that she believed that she might be expecting. Richard worried about that, so he asked the Countess to send her own private physician to come to Rosings to examine Anne. After he came and examined her, he went to Richard.

"I am not sure what Mrs. Fitzwilliam's underlying health problem might be. There is no question but that she is not thriving as I would expect a young woman of her age should be. She is certainly with child, approximately two months along." He did not comment on the fact that their marriage had taken place only one month before. "This pregnancy could be very dangerous for her as the child will draw its nourishment from her. I recommend that you encourage her to eat as much as possible and not allow her to engage in any strenuous activity that will tax her strength. She must rest as much as possible to preserve her energy."

Richard was embarrassed, but he had to ask, "What about marital activities?"

"If you are very gentle with her, and try not to excite her too much, then an occasional coming together should do no harm. All in all, the delivery of the child will be the most dangerous time for her as it will use up so much of her energy. We can only hope for an easy birth." With these words, the physician returned to town.

Richard faithfully followed the physician's advice, encouraging Anne to eat healthy meals and rest. They did sleep together, but he refrained from engaging her in marital activities very often, even though she wanted more, much more. He tried to convince her that they had to abstain most nights so that they would have more years together, but she wanted her enjoyment now. He tried to stay in his own room, but she merely went to him if he did not go to her.

As spring progressed, he became busy with the farms, ensuring that the farmers had sufficient seed and looked after the birthing animals. He was especially attentive to the home farms as they contributed significantly to his income for the year.

Once the seeding was complete, he again took to riding in the mornings, hoping to see Charlotte as he had the previous year. As she had seen him ride past the parsonage in the mornings, she again began to walk as soon as her son's demands on her were not so frequent. Fortunately, she had faith in the nurse they had employed. She had to be very careful, as Collins was not going to Rosings every morning as he had in the past.

Soon they were meeting many mornings. Often, Richard was riding his horse, but sometimes he was walking. "Good morning, Charlotte. How are you today? Recovered from your delivery?" After they had expressed the customary pleasantries, he said, "On a very personal note, I am very worried about Anne. She is expecting and I had the Matlock personal physician come to examine her. He was very concerned about her pregnancy and said that he hoped that she had an easy delivery, or things may not go well. I am trying to follow his advice, but I am still very worried about her."

"Richard, I am surprised that she is expecting already. I wondered if you would even consummate your marriage, knowing how precarious Anne's health seems to be."

"Charlotte, I know that these topics are never discussed outside marriage, but, given our relationship, I feel comfortable talking to you. The truth is that I had very seriously considered not consummating it, but she came to me and I felt that she deserves some happiness in life." Richard pulled Charlotte closer to him. "I am in a very difficult position as the physician said that I should not allow her to over-exert herself in any way, including our marital relations, but she wants me all the time. I try to be very gentle with her, but that is difficult for me.

"What about you and Collins? Is he pestering you now so soon after our son was born?"

"Not yet. I let him know that mothers need months to recuperate before we are ready to resume any activities, and he accepted that. Richard, I hope that we can get together again soon. I must be similar to Anne; I want to be made happy with you." Charlotte chuckled, "Poor Richard! Two women who want him, but there are problems with both of us."

"Charlotte, I would like to be with you, as well, but I am very conflicted. I feel that I should be good to Anne as she trusts me completely. Her health is so uncertain that I would not want to do anything to jeopardize it. One of these days, though."

Richard and Charlotte continued to meet several times a week as summer warmed. Their conversation continued to encompass a wide range of topics, but often became quite personal, talking about their spouses. Charlotte slowly began to admit how unhappy she was with Collins and that she was no longer sure that she had made the correct decision to marry him. Slowly, they began to be more physical with each other. At first, they touched only when she took his arm, but they began to hug each other before they parted. As summer neared its end, they had begun to kiss goodbye, gently at first, but then more passionately. She could tell when she pressed against him that he wanted her, but he was still too conflicted to act on his urges.


	9. Chapter 9

In early October, Anne's pains began. As Richard was out supervising the final harvests, her staff called for the midwife and had a rider go find him. Richard immediately rode to the house and went up to Anne's room, where he heard her cries of pain. As the midwife was already there, he asked her, "How is Mrs. Fitzwilliam? Should I send for the physician?"

"We know that Mrs. Fitzwilliam's health is not the best, so it might be a good idea. It is very early yet, so it is difficult to tell how the delivery will proceed. You will just have to be patient and let us do our job."

Richard sent a message to the physician and to the wet nurse they had hired, to warn her that the pains had begun. He knew that Anne would not be strong enough to nurse the baby, even though she had said that she wanted to. Both soon came and the physician examined Anne, and then went to Richard.

"Mrs. Fitzwilliam is progressing about as well as I expected, but it is early yet. As both the consulting physician you brought from London and I have said, we must hope for an easy delivery as her strength will not last for too many hours. The midwife knows what she is doing and I am here to help however I can. You must be patient."

Richard waited and waited, for hours. Mr. and Mrs. Collins came to see if there was anything they could do. Richard certainly did not want his help, but Charlotte went in to Anne. When she came out, she said, "Mr. Fitzwilliam, poor Anne. She is weak and in such pain. The midwife is doing what she can, but that is not much. We just have to be patient and hope for the best.

"Mr. Collins, you might as well go home, but I would like to stay with her for a while. There is not much I can do except to hold her hand and try to keep up her spirits."

Charlotte was mainly in with Anne, but she came out to try to console Richard several times per hour. There was actually not much that she could do; she just wanted to be with him during this very difficult time.

Finally, after what seemed to be a lifetime, Richard heard the cry of a baby. He went to the door and waited impatiently. Charlotte came out with the baby wrapped in a blanket. "Richard, here is your son. Congratulations. He is a fine-looking boy."

"What about Anne? How is she?"

"She is very weak, Richard. The physician is with her and will come out soon to let you know." Charlotte gave the baby to the nurse, who took him to the wet nurse for his first feeding.

The physician came out. "Mr. Fitzwilliam, you had better go see your wife now. It does not look good. The delivery took so much out of her. She is very weak. I have done all that I could."

Richard went in and saw Anne looking very pale; she was not moving. He took her hand and said, "Anne. Anne! Can you hear me? We have a beautiful son. You should just rest now." He sat with her as her life ebbed away. It was not long before she just became perfectly still, not drawing any more breaths. "Anne! My dear Anne! I am so sorry. You gave your life for our son." He sat there for some time, thinking of their time together. He only hoped that he had given her some happy moments.

When he finally came out of her room, Charlotte was still waiting for him. She saw immediately from the expression on his face that Anne was no longer. Even though she wanted nothing more than to hug him to give him some consolation, she only took his hand. "Is she gone?" He nodded. "I am so sorry." They were quiet together for some time.

"Would you be so kind as to ask your husband to arrange for a funeral, and let the undertaker know to come? I will have to let our families know." Charlotte left and Richard went to his office. Even though he had been warned about the risks Anne faced with her pregnancy, her death still affected him more than he expected. After all, she had been his loyal wife who had not asked for anything of him except to make her happy. He wrote letters to Lady Catherine and his parents telling them what had happened, and asking them to come for the funeral. He had the two letters sent by express. He also wrote to Darcy, but knew that they could not come because they were back at Pemberley.

The next day, Lady Catherine and his family arrived. While his family was very thoughtful in the way they expressed their sadness at his loss, Lady Catherine said, "Richard, you will need me to be here with you to help you look after your son. It will not take me long to move all of my belongings back to where they need to be."

Richard was horrified at this thought. "No, Aunt. I do not need you here. I hired excellent nurses and I will look after my son myself. You must stay in town to enjoy your friends." He decided to give her the slightest acknowledgement. "If I need you, I will let you know right away. For now, things will remain as they were."

The Earl took Richard's side. "Now, Catherine, you heard him. He wants to look after his son himself. I thought that you were enjoying being in town, reuniting with your friends."

"But Richard needs me! He has no idea how to raise a child. I need to be here."

"No, Catherine, you do not. Richard will learn. He has a very good staff here that will help him. That is the end of it. Now we can only try to help him try to get over his loss. After the funeral, we are all going back to town."

Richard's mother and sister went up to see the baby. The Earl took his sister to the drawing room, and his brother took him to the office to pour him a drink. While the Earl would much rather be with his sons, he knew that he had to overcome his sister's objections.

The funeral was a sad affair, even sadder than most funerals as Anne was so young and a new mother. Richard's family helped him, except that Lady Catherine was still not satisfied with his decision. The family all left after staying for a couple more days, leaving Richard alone with his son. His sister had offered to stay with him, but Richard said that he preferred to be alone.

After the family had left, Charlotte said to her husband, "Mr. Collins, poor Mr. Fitzwilliam is left alone with his son with just his nurses to advise him. Now that I know a lot about raising a baby, do you think that I should go to the big house once in a while to give him my advice? He might appreciate any help that he can get, and that should put you in his good graces."

"My dear, that is an excellent suggestion. Yes, indeed, he will certainly need help and advice. Will you take our son there with you? That might distract him and take his mind off his problems."

"Mr. Collins, you are right, as usual. I will take our Ritchie there so he can see how his own baby will grow in just a few months. I will take him there once or twice a week to make sure he appreciates the attention you are giving him."

In the morning, Charlotte did take her son to Rosings and went to see Richard. She was admitted to his office and shut the door behind her. "Charlotte, how nice to see you. May I hold our son?" He took his son in his arms and rocked him, smiling very broadly. "He is growing so fast! Charlotte, is it safe for you to be here? What about your husband?'

"He knows I am here. I suggested that I might be able to offer you some advice and assistance based on my experience with our baby, and he agreed as he hoped that would give him credit with you. I can come as often as I want." She went to Richard and put her arms around him and their son. "I want to come here as often as possible. I miss you."

"Charlotte, we have to be careful and not let anyone see us like this. As much as I also want to be with you, it will be difficult. I am glad that you brought our Ritchie with you. Not only do I want to see him, but he will provide a good excuse for you to be here. Now, would you like to go see my son? After all, that is officially why you are here." With a final hug and a brief kiss, they went up to the nursery.

They went in and Richard assured the nurse. "Please do not worry. Mrs. Collins offered to give me advice on raising a baby as I have not been around babies much. There are not many in the army! I certainly trust you, but a second opinion is always welcome." Charlotte exchanged babies with the nurse. As Ritchie was squirming, she asked if she should put him down. When he did, he showed them that he had learned to crawl, so the nurse was busy chasing after him.

Charlotte looked at Richard's younger son and said, "Mr. Fitzwilliam, what are you going to call him? He needs a name."

"I want to honour his mother, so I thought that Andrew is as close as a boy's name that I could find to Anne. Andrew Richard Fitzwilliam sounds like a good name."

"Baby Andy! Yes, that sounds good."

They called in the wet nurse and, while Charlotte was talking to them, Richard picked up Ritchie. "Well, young fellow! You certainly learned how to crawl. I bet you are going to get into great deal of mischief now. Soon you will have a playmate."

Charlotte finished speaking to the nurses and they went out with Ritchie. "Richard, there do not appear to be any problems with Andy. Both nurses know what they are doing. Now I should get back. When is a good time for me to visit?"

"I usually do estate work in the mornings, so after lunch is best for me. Will that work out for you?"

"Yes, I normally do my house and charity work in the mornings, and Mr. Collins sleeps after lunch, so that will work out. I should not come more than once or twice per week. Would you like to take the babies and let the nurses rest for an hour or so?"

"That would be very nice; just the four of us for an hour."

Charlotte left with Ritchie, and Richard was left wondering what the future would hold for them.


	10. Chapter 10

Two days later Charlotte came with Ritchie after lunch. She and Richard went up to the nursery and picked up Andy from his nurse, who said, "He should be good for a while as he nursed and has a clean nappy."

Richard led them to a small room that was rarely used. "I had everything breakable moved out of this room and found some toys for Ritchie. I left only the sofa and the big chairs, so it should be very safe for him. I also found a soft carpet for him to crawl on." He put Ritchie down, who immediately began to explore the area and toys, using his new-found ability to crawl. Charlotte was holding Andy, who soon fell asleep. In a few more minutes, Ritchie also fell asleep on the carpet. Charlotte put Andy down in one of the big chairs and went to sit on the sofa. She smiled up at Richard and he sat beside her. When he put his arm around her, she leaned into him. They sat like this for several minutes, and then he put his hand under her chin and lifted it toward him. He leaned to her and kissed her very gently. Their kiss rapidly became very passionate, even though Richard was torn by feelings of guilt for his lost wife. His passion won out. She lay back on the sofa and pulled him with her, while he touched her all over. The only words spoken were, "Are you sure, Charlotte?" She nodded and pulled him tighter to him.

After, they lay together. "Richard, I missed you so much. Having you here at Rosings has been more difficult than I imagined. I wanted nothing more than to come here to visit Anne so I could be closer to you, to see you. I hate to admit it, but I am finding that I am becoming more frustrated with Mr. Collins. I thought that I could live with him comfortably, but now, everything about him frustrates me. I am not sure how much longer I can take this, but I know there is nothing that I can do about it. I thought that, with time and patience, I could get him to listen to me and my concerns. However, it is almost as if I were not his wife as he still listens only to Lady Catherine. I feel as if my situation is getting worse, not better."

"Charlotte, I understand your dilemma. When I was with Anne, I was also frustrated as I wished she were you. Your situation is much worse than mine was as Anne was a reasonable person. I tried to be a good husband to her. I am not sure what we can do about your situation, but I will think about it. Now, I see that Ritchie is waking up, so we had better get decent. We can take them back to the nurses."

"Ritchie will be hungry, and I will have to nurse him. I will do that while you take Andy up. It will not look good if you are here when I do that. By the way, have you noticed how similar the boys look? They look just like brothers. I wonder if anyone else has noticed?"

Richard kissed her and went to pick up Andy to take him back to his nurses. After looking after Ritchie, Charlotte took him back to the parsonage.

This routine continued for several weeks, with both Richard and Charlotte becoming more frustrated with the situation. While they continued to enjoy each other whenever the babies both slept at the same time, their love-making became more desperate. When Charlotte returned to her husband, Richard could only grind his teeth and clench his fists in frustration. His concerns about their circumstances were heightened as there was less to do on the estate in the winter. He tried to take his frustration out, whenever the weather permitted, by riding hard in the mornings.

One morning, Collins had ridden his buggy to the village to consult with some of the senior members of his congregation. He did not return to the parsonage when Charlotte expected him. However, a farmer drove up and asked to see Mrs. Collins. He was very nervous when she went to him. "Mrs. Collins, I was driving my wagon on the road and saw the parson's buggy stopped on the side of the road. No one was in it. Then I saw someone lying there. It was the parson. I went to him and he was not moving. He was too heavy for me to lift, so I rode into the village and told the apothecary that he was needed. I took him back there and he said that Mr. Collins had a broken neck. We managed to load him into my wagon and the apothecary rode the buggy back into the village to the constable. I took him back to where I found the parson, but there was nothing that he found interesting there. The constable said that he must have fallen out of his buggy and broken his neck. I am very sorry, Mrs. Collins. The apothecary has him in his office, waiting for word about what to do with him."

Charlotte did not know what to do, so she sent the housekeeper to Rosings to ask Mr. Fitzwilliam to come as soon as he could. Richard came right away and found her very upset. He could not hold her to comfort her as he wanted, but he finally got the story from her. He left her to ride into town to see the constable and the apothecary. Some time later, he returned to the parsonage driving the parson's buggy with his horse tied on behind. The apothecary drove his own buggy.

"Mrs. Collins, we left Collins with the undertaker. He will get him ready and take him to the church for the funeral. The apothecary will tell you what he found."

"Mrs. Collins, I am very sorry about your loss. I came here to tell you that it looks as if the parson fell from his buggy and somehow broke his neck. He died instantly and would have suffered no pain. Is there anything that I can do for you?" The apothecary was not as sure as his words seemed, but he admired Mrs. Collins and wanted to soften the blow of losing her husband. He did not add that Collins's face and head were not bruised as he would have expected it would be if he had fallen on his head. He just did not want to upset her.

"Thank you for the information, but there is nothing else that I need just now. Thank you for coming." The apothecary left, leaving Richard with Charlotte.

"Charlotte, I know that I should express my condolences for your loss, but the situation is much more complicated than that. First of all, you do not have to worry about your future. I will look after you, no matter what. I know that I have contact the bishop right away. He will need to send someone to officiate at the funeral and find someone to look after the parish until a new parson is appointed. I should go to do that right now, so we will talk later. Please do not worry. Trust me."

Richard left to write to the bishop, leaving Charlotte to worry about her future. No matter what Richard had said, she was worried. She knew that she would lose the parsonage and had nowhere to go. She had her son to worry about. Even though Richard said he would look after her, she knew that he was a gentleman and she was a lady, so appearances had to be maintained. She would not be a kept woman; she would rather throw herself on the mercy of her parents for a place to live. She knew that she would have little money as Collins had only small savings. The only alternative to living with her parents was to find a paid position, but that would be very difficult with a baby to look after. She quickly decided that she would never be parted from her son. Charlotte sat down to write to her parents, asking them to come for the funeral.

Her parents arrived with her sister Maria before the funeral. At the end of the funeral, Richard asked Charlotte and her family to come to Rosings to talk about the future. She brought Ritchie and his nurse. Maria volunteered to look after him while they met. Maria was very happy to do this as she had immediately fallen in love with the baby, who was becoming more interesting by the day.

They met in the library, where Richard had tea served. "Sir William, Lady Lucas, Mrs. Collins, I asked to meet with you to discuss what is going to happen. Of course, you know that the bishop will appoint another parson to look after the parish, so Mrs. Collins will need to vacate the parsonage when that happens. I suggested that she will need several months and the bishop agreed. While I am sure that you will gladly take her and her son in to live with you, I can offer a better solution. It happens that I have been considering whether I should find a nanny for my son who would become his governess when he is older. I am offering this position to Mrs. Collins, if she is interested. I appreciate that she is a lady and that a paid position is not something that she would normally consider. However, she is also my friend and I would never treat her as merely an employee. If my offer is acceptable, I promise that she will be treated more as a friend than staff. Of course, her son will be raised the very same as mine as they are close in age. Her son is the heir to Longbourn and I will make sure that he receives a gentleman farmer's education, the very same as my son. I promise to treat the boys as equally as possible. They will have full use of Rosings and not be restricted in any way.

"Now I will answer any questions that you might have, then I will leave you alone to discuss my offer." Sir William did have several questions, which Richard answered fully. Then he left them to talk. It was not long before they asked him to return.

Sir William said, "Mr. Fitzwilliam, we discussed your offer and are very impressed with your generosity in making it. Our main concern, besides that of my daughter having to accept a paid position, is with appearances. Neither of you has a spouse, so people may question the propriety of an unmarried lady living with you, even if she is officially your nanny or governess."

"Sir William, I give you my word as a gentleman that I will never allow Mrs. Collins to be disparaged for her situation. As I said, she is a lady and my friend and I will treat her accordingly. I will also assure you that, if feelings do develop between us, I will act honourably and ask for her hand." With these words, Richard was virtually admitting that there was more to their relationship than might have appeared before her husband's death. However, as they had not seen his son, he knew they did not have a chance to see how similar the babies were in appearance.

"Do you have any other concerns?" The three of them said no, so Richard said, "Mrs. Collins, I am very grateful to you that you have accepted my offer as I need help raising my son. I look forward to having you and Ritchie living here. As soon as you are ready to move, I will have my staff bring your things over.

"I will take on any staff you bring from the parsonage, including the nurses, so do not worry about any of them. If you have a lady's maid who you would like to keep, bring her as well.

"Sir William, on a related question, will you be informing the lawyers who look after the Longbourn estate about the passing of Mr. Collins and that his son is now the heir? I assume that you will also inform Mr. Bennet of the situation." Sir William said that he would look after that official business.


	11. Chapter 11

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the final chapter of my little story. I am not very pleased with it, and I know that many of you could have written it better, but here it is.**

Richard asked to see the housekeeper. "I have asked Mrs. Collins to accept the position of nanny to my son, with the expectation that she will become his governess when he is older. She will be moving here with her son to take up this position. This decision was difficult for her as she is a lady and the daughter of a knight of the realm. I promised that she will be treated more as my friend than as a member of the staff, so I expect that the staff will treat her appropriately. She and her son will be accorded every courtesy due to her status as a lady. Her son will be raised equally with mine as he is the heir to an estate in Hertfordshire. Mrs. Collins will be assigned a room in the family wing so she will be conveniently close to the nursery and will eat in the dining room. She will be treated in every way more as my guest than as staff. If any members of the staff have trouble with this, they will be replaced. Do you have any questions?"

"No sir. Mrs. Collins is well-respected, so I do not expect that anyone will have any problems accepting the situation. I understand that she is in a very difficult situation with the death of her husband, and that this is a good position for her and her son."

When Charlotte moved into the Rosings manor house, she had mixed emotions. She definitely wanted to be close to Richard, but she was now unsure of him because of her husband's death. Even though it appeared that he had simply fallen from his buggy and broken his neck, she wondered if Richard had been involved in any way. She knew that Richard had been very upset with Collins, but she did not know if he was capable of murder. Her husband's death was very convenient as it removed the main obstacle to their being together, but the timing of it was suspicious to her. She felt that she did not dare ask him; what if he admitted his involvement? She realized that she would rather live with not knowing for sure than to know that he had been involved and not be with him at all. She fully expected that they would marry at some point in time, even if she was still in doubt about his involvement. She had to admit that what had begun as a purely physical relationship had evolved into more, much more, at least for her.

Another major consideration for her decision was their son. If she did not accept Richard's offer, their son may not receive the upbringing or education appropriate for a gentleman farmer as she was not sure that her father's estate would be able to afford the expense. She expected that part of the reason for his offer was so that he would remain involved with their son, but she was not sure how he would treat her. She expected, and hoped, that their physical relations would continue on a regular basis, but she hoped that he would not come to view her merely as his mistress. If she became with child again, what would her position be? Their son was conceived after only one encounter, so she thought that it was certainly possible that she would conceive again. She had heard that nursing mothers generally did not conceive; she hoped this was true. She had so many thoughts and concerns in her mind.

Their first dinner at Rosings was pleasant as Richard treated her virtually as his wife with every courtesy. She admitted that it was nice to have so many servants to look after their every need, and the food was of better quality and better prepared than what she was used to at the parsonage. After dinner, when they had a moment alone, Richard said, "Charlotte, we have not talked about what our relationship will be with you here. I hope that we will be able to be together almost every night, but you do not want to become with child. What do you think? Would you like for us to get together regularly?"

"I would love that, but I agree that it would be very difficult if I become with child. I would love to have another child with you at some point in time. I have heard that a nursing mother does not often become pregnant, but I am not sure how accurate that belief is. I am not sure what we can do to minimize that risk. Another thing we have to be aware of is that Ritchie is still nursing during the night, so the nurse will bring him to me. You will not be able to stay with me the whole night."

That night, when the house became quiet, Richard did go to her and made them both very happy. He tried to be more careful at the end by withdrawing, but he was not sure how successful he was. He went back to his room after holding her for some time. Of course, his nightly wanderings did not remain a secret from the staff. While most of them accepted the situation, even if they did not like it, there were several who could not accept it and left and had to be replaced. The housekeeper was not pleased, but she could do nothing about the situation except to hope that they would make their union official at some point in time.

Another person who was not happy was Lady Catherine as she desperately wanted to be more involved with the raising of baby Andrew. While she was enjoying her first season in town for many years, she believed that Richard would not raise his son as she believed that he should be raised. However, Richard ignored her complaints and did not venture into town except when absolutely necessary. When he did go to town, he did not let her know in advance and stayed at his parents' house.

When Richard's parents asked him to bring Andrew to town so they could see him, Richard refused on the grounds that he was still too young to travel. So, they came to spend a week at Rosings. They were uncertain about Charlotte's role as Andrew was too young to need a nanny as his nurse did everything for him. They suspected their relationship was not just as employer/nanny, so the Earl asked him outright. "Richard, I am not sure what your relationship is with Mrs. Collins, but I suspect there is more to it than just being a nanny. I hope you remember that she is a lady and the daughter of a knight. I have also wondered about her husband's death and am glad that it was ruled to be accidental. I will not ask you if you were in any way involved."

"Father, I hope you do not think that I would do something as drastic as murdering a man so I could have his wife! As for Mrs. Collins, I admit that our relationship is complicated. I do like her and created a position for her so she and her son would not have to go live with her parents, subject to their charity. Her son is the heir to the Bennet estate in Hertfordshire and I will do whatever I can to help her raise him to be a gentleman farmer. I do admit that I have considered what our future will be. It is certainly possible that I may ask her to marry me in the future, but she is still in deep mourning, so that is not possible any time soon."

"Richard, be very careful. Your mother and I have noticed that her son and Andrew look very much alike. I will not ask you about this, but tongues may wag. You do not want her to be the subject of malicious gossip. Be careful with how you treat her in public. Personally, I do not care what your relationship is with her as long as you are discrete and do not bring disgrace on any of us. Remember that you are a Fitzwilliam and the son of an Earl."

That winter passed by, with Ritchie having his first birthday in January. He was just beginning to take a few unstable steps before falling down. By spring, Ritchie was running and Andy was just beginning to crawl. Charlotte passed her six-month period of deep mourning for her husband. Richard began to think seriously about whether he should ask Charlotte to marry him. He was beginning to dislike having to go back to his own bed every night and he was worried that she might become pregnant. He knew that his feelings for her were becoming very strong and that he could not put off his decision much longer.

Finally, one evening after dinner, he sat beside her on the sofa and said, "Charlotte, you are out of deep mourning now. We have been together constantly for more than six months. I cannot even think about living without you. Do you realize it is more than two years since we first found comfort in each other? I have come to realize that I love you and want you to be my wife."

"Oh, Richard! I love you as well and want nothing more than to be your wife. It will be so nice to be able to be open with each other. I would prefer a small ceremony as soon as possible."

"Do you want to invite any of your family?"

"Not really. They came to my first wedding and will likely not be surprised to hear about us."

"Tomorrow I will go see the parson about having the banns read. I will also write the lawyers about our marriage settlement. I want to make sure that Ritchie's position of heir to Longbourn is formally acknowledged and that his future will be assured. I will include that Andrew will inherit Rosings and that you will have the right to live here even if I die. I will provide you with a generous settlement upon our marriage so you never have to worry about your future. We will need to provide dowries for our daughters and funds for our sons out of our savings. I hope we will be blessed with more children. Is there anything else I should include?" Charlotte thought that this was very generous and could add nothing more.

When Richard wrote to his parents about his upcoming marriage, they insisted on coming. While they did not say it, they were just happy that he was finally going to formalize his relationship with Charlotte. Charlotte's parents also said they wanted to come, so the wedding was not as quiet as they had planned.

They celebrated their wedding night in the usual manner, with Richard throwing caution to the winds as they both wanted to have more children. Their happiest moment came in the morning when they woke in each other's arms. Naturally, this called for another session of pure bliss. Their efforts were successful and just ten months later saw the birth of their first daughter. She was followed by another son and another daughter, so Rosings saw many years of happy, but noisy children.

THE END

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have received a number of complaints that I made the principal characters in this story (Richard, Charlotte, and Anne) out to be too immoral sexually. I wrote them the way I did knowing that the Immortal Jane did not write her characters this way, except for Lydia and, especially Wickham with his many conquests. While I appreciate that many of you read fanfiction to find a gentle escape from everyday cares and the realities of everyday life, we cannot forget the grinding poverty and different morals that existed among the great majority of the people back then. I understand that you read the Immortal Jane rather than Charles Dickens to avoid having it thrown in your face, or at least your imagination!**

**However, were the people of 200 years ago so different from what they are today? Granted that the 1960s saw a huge change in our apparent morality with the advent of more effective birth control methods, but were the people of the Regency Period so different? I have read that approximately one-third of all first births in marriage occurred well within nine months of the wedding during this period in England. Additionally, while Queen Victoria was notoriously strait-laced (remember that famous saying attributed to her, "We are not be amused."), remember that she and her darling husband Prince Albert had nine children in their 21-year marriage and she mourned his death for the rest of her long life. This suggests that they were a lusty pair who enjoyed each other often and enjoyably. Perhaps the most obvious statement of the hypocrisy of the (admittedly later) age was Mrs. Patrick Campbell's famous quote, "Does it really matter what these affectionate people do—so long as they don't do it in the streets and frighten the horses!" This statement implies that any activity would be accepted as long as it was done out of the public eye. In my mind, the activities of these three main characters as I described them are within the realm of possibility, even if many of you may not like to be reminded of it.**

** I admit that this story is controversial. I am presently working on another story titled "The Second Mrs. Bennet." In this story, I promise to try not to be quite so naughty. It is in a similar vein to five of the six stories I have published on this site so far—it **_**is**_** a variation of the original **_**Pride and Prejudice**_** in which Mrs. Bennet dies the year before the Immortal Jane's story began and Mr. Bennet takes a new wife.**

** For those of you who are enjoying my stories, I apologize for my writing style. I am trying to forget that I am a retired academic now taking my first foray into flights of fancy. Finally, I can let my imagination loose, even if my words do not always do justice to my thoughts. Thanks for reading! **

_**Roni**_


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